In order to reload a center fire cartridge shell, it is first necessary to remove the spent primer, an operation generally called "decapping". Decapping is customarily done at as a part of the sizing or resizing operation. Thus, a punching tool is generally engrafted upon the end of a sizing die. Since the reach to the flash port may be long, there is a danger that concentricity will be lost and that the flash hole may be mutilated or the tool itself will become broken or bent. Separating the operations of decapping and sizing is arguably logical, but in practice quite inconvenient because each cartridge must have its own holder.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved decapping tool that is universally usable with center fire cartridges of all sizes.